Johnny William Cabe, previously arrested on fraud charges, is behind the Members Choice Ponzi cycler scheme, which announced a reboot for Monday, August 13th at noon EST. This restart follows the collapse of the original operation, which combined elements of a Ponzi and a pyramid recruitment model.
The initial Members Choice program drew participants using religious affinity marketing. It promised high returns, but these payouts depended on a constant influx of new member funds, a hallmark of illegal pyramid and Ponzi structures. The scheme also maintained ties to other failed cycler operations, including Waszupp Global and Noble 8 Revolution, both of which faced similar sustainability issues.
Members Choice informed its former participants about the planned resurrection. The message compared the scheme's failure and subsequent comeback to the cycle of pregnancy and childbirth, stating the revived entity would be "the next giant in the network industry." Pastor Howard Harrison, identified in the announcement as "the proud dad," is scheduled to lead the reboot's official launch. New compensation plan details and a "birth announcement" are expected during the Monday meeting.
Cycler schemes, by their nature, are unsustainable. They promise investment returns that can only be paid out by money from new recruits, not from genuine product sales or services. When recruitment inevitably slows, the entire payment structure falls apart, leaving the majority of later participants with significant financial losses. This model is consistently identified by financial regulators as inherently fraudulent.
The open declaration of a reboot, rather than a quiet disappearance, marks an unusual approach. Many collapsed schemes attempt to vanish or rebrand discreetly. Members Choice, however, frames its prior failure as a developmental phase, suggesting a calculated attempt to normalize its collapse and subsequent return. This strategy might seek to reassure previous participants and attract new ones.
Regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and various state attorneys general have actively pursued cycler operations in recent years. These agencies categorize such schemes as illegal. A simple relaunch under a new name or with minor structural tweaks does not erase the history of consumer harm or the fundamental illegality of the underlying business model. Past enforcement actions against similar programs demonstrate a low tolerance for reboots of previously fraudulent enterprises.
For individuals who lost money in the original Members Choice, the reboot announcement likely causes renewed frustration. Early entrants in such schemes often profit at the direct expense of those who join later, as their payouts derive from the funds of subsequent investors. A new compensation plan might merely reconfigure this same problematic dynamic under different branding, perpetuating the cycle of loss for new participants.
The company has offered no explanation of fundamental changes to its operational model. If the core problem was the Ponzi cycler combined with pyramid recruitment, the relaunch provides no clear indication of how version 2.0 would differ in its financial mechanics. Instead, it offers promises of growth and an invitation for re-engagement.
Prospective recruits considering the new iteration should review the established warning signs. The company already collapsed once. Its leader, Johnny William Cabe, has a documented history of fraud. The original model relied on unsustainable promises that led to widespread losses. Merely repainting a flawed structure does not address its foundational issues.
Victims of fraudulent investment schemes can report their experiences to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or contact their state's Attorney General for assistance.